THE BOGEY WAIL RESURGENCE

 

I'll be the first to admit that my YouTube channel (jayveesonata) is crappy. I started it about a dozen years ago simply as a place to preserve some of my piano videos and recordings.

Later I ventured into making other videos, solely for my own pleasure - such as tributes to people in history whom I admired (Empress Alexandra of Russia, Eva Peron, King Ludwig of Bavaria, etc). The art of making videos was completely foreign to me and I admittedly didn't have a clue what I was doing - but that never stopped me.

My YouTube channel was a personal endeavor. I never yearned to have subscribers and certainly never wanted it monetized. Through the years I had about 35 subscribers and felt fortunate if my videos got 20 or 30 views (one of my earliest videos - a tribute to silent screen star Pola Negri - surprisingly got over 4,000 views).

I was truly baffled when, over the past few weeks, I started to get new subscribers to my channel. I was shocked to get an email from YouTube, congratulating me for hitting the 100+ mark.

I figured it was either a mistake or a joke.

What stunned me into oblivion was when I recently checked one of my Halloween videos, The Bogey Wail, and saw that it has over 15,000 views! 

How the heck did that happen?

I made The Bogey Wail about four years ago - inspired by a 1929 song by vocalist Jack Hylton. It was a fun Halloween endeavor, but nothing special at all.

Anyway, I'm flattered that it received some unexpected attention. And I'm posting it here as a silly tribute to Halloween.

Cheers, Jon

Heck, if a "resurgence" ever happened to this blog, perhaps I'd actually get one or two comments......instead of this annoying eternal silence.
 

COLD SPOOKY OCTOBER NIGHT

I just went out on the back porch to brush the dust off an extra blanket that I'm putting on the bed. Almost immediately, a pack of coyotes rambled out of the forest and came unnervingly close to the porch.

They immediately started their ghastly chorus of wails, cries, shrieks, and demonic laughter. Spooky, indeed, but also extremely fascinating. I ran to get my cell phone so I could record their midnight serenade, but by the time I turned the dang thing on the coyotes were meandering far away from the house. Their visit was brief.

I wish there was some way to describe how incredibly dark - and I mean dark - it is here at night. Absolute blackness.
When I first moved here I was freaked out for about two weeks - - imagining that I'd be killed by hungry wolves...or a crazed ax murderer lurking in the forest. My imagination ascended to new levels of horror.

The front porch tonight, with the ghost-like swing

Soon I got used to the isolated loneliness and actually welcomed it. I wandered outside fearlessly at night - - even sometimes left the doors unlocked when  I went to bed.

Come to think of it, this reckless insanity isn't new. I've lived dangerously most of my life. When I think back of all the dangerous things I've done, I shudder.
Deep down somewhere in semi-consciousness is a death wish. I've known that for a long time.

Change of subject.

Crisp autumn weather finally blew in to rural Tennessee this weekend. When I walked in the woods a few days ago it was nearly 80 degrees. Today (Saturday) there was an invigorating wind and the daytime temperature was 53 degrees (Fahrenheit). A fantastic autumn day. It's supposed to be in the 30s late tonight. The October midnight ghosts are shivering. 

I hadn't planned on writing a blog post tonight, but the coyotes inspired me. What I had planned was to post a rerun of Mephistopheles at Midnight  (the Hollywood Halloween orgy) - - but I'm deciding if it will be too offensive and erotic for my delicate readers.
I have an uncanny knack for offending just about everyone - which is why my readership has dropped drastically this past year.

I personally think I'm unique and fascinating, but I guess that's beside the point
(wry *smile* inserted here).

Well, hell, Mephistopheles will probably be my next post. Just to annoy you.

It's getting late and it's very chilly. I'm going to crawl into bed...and probably watch a scary movie.
I'll make sure the doors are locked tonight.....

Pleasant dreams, Jon

 

BETWEEN DUSK AND DAWN

 

 For some weird and indiscernible reason, I suddenly remembered that I never pimped my book for children on this blog.

The peculiar thought occurred to me when I  found a dust-encrusted copy of it on one of my bookshelves yesterday. It was published in 2016 (2nd edition 2018) and I can hardly believe that five years have passed.

The thought of me writing a children's book might come as a shock, because the general consensus is that I dislike children.

In truth, I don't hate the little rugrats. I simply like them best from a distance of fifty miles. At least.

Between Dusk and Dawn is a paperback book with seventeen poems, approximately 65 glossy pages, with an array of colored pictures that I selected.

 

 

The poetry depicts the magic and mystery of the nocturnal world - with the beauty that enhances our dreams, infused with shrouds of uncertainty that inspire our fears and induce nightmares.

The moon, owls, crones, sprite, will o' the wisp, bats, werewolves, gnomes, ghosts - - things quite appropriate for the Halloween season.

Available at Amazon.
Between Dusk and Dawn

 

NIGHT

Night is the time
between dusk and dawn
when the world is dark
and the hours are long,

when a creamy moon rises
above the tall trees
and wise old owls
whoo-hoot in the breeze,

when the leaves on the trees
softly rustle and sway
and almost seem
to have something to say,

When the stars far above
always twinkle and glow
while the shadowy earth
drowses way down below.

Night is the time
when cats like to prowl
and moths like to flutter
and wolves start to howl,

when crickets are chirping
by the banks of a creek
and bats fly about
in the sky as they squeak.

Night is when shadows
will lurk in your room
and silence will listen
in the gathering gloom

and outside your window
the night creatures creep
while dreams come to visit
as you peacefully sleep.

 

SOMETHING

But suddenly something
jolts you awake.
What could it be.
for goodness sake?

Was it the wind
as it whisked past the house
or was it the scurrying
feet of a mouse?

Was it a creature
outside in the gloom,
or did the sound come
from the midst of your room?

Could it have come
from the dark closet door,
or from under your bed
with the dust on the floor?

or maybe the sound that you heard
wasn't there -
and is only a dream
that gave you a scare.

Jon Varga

copyright 2016-2018

  

SPOOKY NIGHT

If you saw the isolated place where I live you'd wonder why I chose to be here. If you knew how creepy it is at night, you'd give me big points for bravery.

The first few weeks were the most intimidating. I wasn't used to the penetrating darkness, or the unnerving forest sounds. Or the fact that any semblance of human assistance was far away.

I'm alone. With my cats. And my rampantly acute imagination. The long, inhospitable hours between dusk and dawn are filled with the unholy possibilities of marauding murders, restless ghosts, and inhuman abstractions in search of vulnerability.

As a child, my imagination was delicious. It is even more so now - with the sophisticated additions of adulthood.

So what am I getting at? Hell if I know. I was merely exercising my mediocre way with words.

Oh, yea. A spooky night. 

After existing nearly two years in this place (I moved here in November, 2014) I am completely used to it. The lonely, isolated nighttime hours never bother me. I occasionally venture outside at night. I leave the shades up on my windows. I have even been known to leave a door unlocked now and then.
Insanity prevails here - - not bravery.

But - despite my feigned fearlessness - there are times when raw reality hits me and I'm afraid. Only momentarily, but afraid nevertheless.  
Last night was spooky.

I was writing in bed, working on my nearly-completed children's book. It was a warm, clear, quiet, completely calm night. 

Just before midnight the lights began to flicker. Then they blinked off.....on.....off.....on. Off. Power failure.
Everything went black. And when I say black, I mean pitch black. Words can hardly express the profound depth of darkness in this remote place. I was completely unprepared. 

As if on cue (I am not exaggerating), a pack of coyotes started hooting and howling and wandered up the slope to my house. They surrounded the place and seemingly taunted me with their eerie inhuman yelps and jeers.

It was really unnerving. I wasn't dressed. Couldn't find my boots. Couldn't find a flashlight. As I groped and wandered around, bashing into things and doing a bad Helen Keller imitation, my imagination was in overdrive.

What could have caused a power failure tonight? There were no storms, no wind. No nothing. My mind suddenly conjured visions of In Cold Blood....and Helter Skelter. What if the wires were deliberately cut - and murderous maniacs were outside, intent on getting in?  

I finally found the flashlight and managed to put on some clothes. I lit two candles in the kitchen, put batteries in a transistor radio, and grabbed my cell phone.

The coyotes eventually left but I still heard weird noises near the back porch - which is nearly on the edge of the forest. 

Abandoning fear, I took my flashlight and gun (hell yes - I'm armed) and went outside. The darkness was beyond black - no moon, no nothing. The first thing I ran into was a big spider web (a repeat of what I did the other day). 
With flashlight, pistol, and remnants of the web I pushed through damp, waist-high weeds and circled the house. Nothing. All was quiet except for the usual owl hooting in a nearby tree.

Back in the house, my fears evaporated completely...but new apprehensions arose. I remembered that I had lots of food in the fridge and freezer - enough for two weeks. It would perish if the power didn't return.

I called the after-hours number for the local power company. No answer.
I said to hell with everything! and went to bed. 
Kept my window wide open and laid there  watching the bright stars. My cat Bosco climbed onto my chest and we both went to sleep.

I woke up around 8:00 this morning and the power was still off. I called the power company again and ....just as a recorded message put me on "hold" - - the power came back on!!

It was amazing and I rejoiced. 

I took a helluva long time to tell a story about absolutely nothing, but that's one of my talents....and charms.